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Renewables policy a scandal, says John Howard

Renewables policy a scandal, says John Howard

John Howard’s description of the looming energy crisis as a "scand¬alous policy failure of the first order", and his verdict that the renewable¬ energy target should never have been lifted above 2 per cent, have reignited calls for a national overhaul of climate policy.

Taking aim at the state of the nation’s electricity supplies, the former prime minister said the RET was 2 per cent when he left office in 2007 and should have remained at that level.

The national target is now about 23.5 per cent by 2020.

Energy users, including house¬holds, paid about $2.1 billion in subsidies to renewable energy companies between 2011 and 2015 under the RET, about $1.5bn more than they would have paid had the target not been increased.

The annual price of the RET last year was likely to have been significantly above the 2015 level as the price of certificates soared in 2016, driven by a failure of investment in new renewable projects to keep up with the target.

The Clean Energy Regulator, which oversees the scheme, published figures last week suggesting that the RET comprised about 2.8 per cent of the average household electricity bill, or $9.38 a quarter. This was up $2.25 a quarter since 2015.